From nostalgia to understanding the present: perception of the USSR by different generations
https://doi.org/10.31249/poln/2021.01.11
Abstract
The article analyzes the perception of the USSR of Russian citizens. The case of the Moscow inhabitants’ narratives shows what the peculiarities of the image of the Soviet Union, and how the characteristics of socialization and other individual and collective experience influence the evaluation of the Soviet past and its legacy. The theoretical framework of the study is relied on the concept of nostalgia as a selective, changing, fragmented mnemonic phenomenon. The findings of the article are based on the results of an in-depth interview (N=11), which showed that people of different generations with different levels of education and disparate life experiences had a variety of perception of the Soviet past. Its formation largely depended on the context, including the characteristics of socialization. The representations of the older genera- tion about the Soviet Union are more holistic, the family played the main role in formation of their pictures of Soviet past. The image of the USSR among the younger generation is more contradictory and fragmentary, and social and political institutions played a significant role in its formation. Despite critical remarks about the USSR, the informants showed nostalgic sentiments. A comparison of the statements of the respondents about the present day and the Soviet times allows us to conclude that the main elements shaping these sentiments are a lack of feelings of unity and pride in the country, as well as a lack of a sense of the state's concern for people.
About the Authors
A. Yu. Dolgov
Institute of scientific information for social sciences of the Russian academy of sciences (INION); National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
E. Yu. Meleshkina
Institute of scientific information for social sciences of the Russian academy of sciences (INION); Moscow state institute of international relations
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
O. A. Tolpygina
Samara national research university; Institute of scientific information for social sciences of the Russian academy of sciences (INION)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Samara
Moscow
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